The UCAN ‘A’ Step: ACT/APPLY

So far we've talked about the importance of Understanding the Principles of Conscious Creation and of Choosing Consciously. This message is about Applying the Tools and Taking Action.

Nina and her uncle teach the other Club members several tools to help them clarify their focus and build their desire and belief. They learn about affirmations, which are statements worded in positive language in the present tense that you repeat lots of times in order to impress them upon your subconscious mind.

Did I tell you that your subconscious plays a role in automatically running things for you so that you can move on and do other things? Imagine what a drag it would be if you had to consciously beat your heart and pump your blood and keep your temperature stable and do all those other things that you body does to keep you alive? It would drive you nuts! You wouldn't have time to do anything else. Well, your subconscious mind works with your sympathetic nervous system to handle all of that for you.

Habits are another thing that the subconscious handles for you. When you've done brushing-your-teeth-before-bed often enough, it becomes a habit and you don't have to think about it. You just do it automatically. Same with our thoughts. Whatever we think repeatedly becomes a habit, and then it happens automatically without us having to think about it. Which is a bummer if you're thinking "I'm so clumsy, I always break things' or something unhelpful like that. You don't want to make those kinds of thoughts into habits, do you?

But if you consciously choose what you would like to have as a habit-thought, and deliberately practise thinking it until it becomes a habit, that is called Really Smart.

CLARE: Like, ‘I am getting better at maths every day’.

BILLY: Yeah. Or: ‘I am now riding my mountain bike and loving it!!!!’

NINA: Yep. And you can write them and say them and think them. The more you do it, the faster they become natural habits.

NATALIE: I really like visualisation. It's pretty cool sitting down and creating a movie in your mind of what you want to experience.

SANDY: Can you always do it?

NATALIE: No. Sometimes I just get fog, but other times it's clear, even just for a second or two. Sometimes I can even smell things - sort of.

CLARE: I like treasure mapping. Cutting and pasting words and pictures of your goal is fun, and then you've got a constant reminder of it.

SANDY (darkly): So long as no-one sees it who shouldn't.

NINA: Yes. It's important to keep your dreams to yourself when they're babies. Baby dreams are easily knocked over by the winds of disbelief.

The others all stare at Nina.

NINA: What?

SANDY: So poetic...

NINA (moving right along): And that’s where ‘See the Invisible, Hear the Silent, do the Impossible’ comes into it. It can be really hard to hold the idea of what you want when all the evidence is opposite, but that’s what you’ve gotta do. Even if you can only summon the energy to say one word, like ‘succeeding’, just have it running in the background of your mind like a drum roll. Succeeding, succeeding, succeeding, succeeding… There’s always going to be something going through your mind – you might as well make it useful.

NATALIE: That’s true. The other day I caught myself thinking, “I’m so bored, bored, bored”, over and over.

NATALIE (thinking back): Well, I just drifted around for a bit longer, but after that I suddenly remembered I was going to make muffins to surprise mum, and I did.

NINA: Brilliant. That is Very Cool. Because these are not just ideas, right? They’re no use to you if you don’t use them. So you put the ideas into practice by using tools like visualising and affirming and treasure mapping, AND you take action in your actual life. You can’t just sit and wait; you’ve got to take steps toward your goal so you can receive it.

BILLY (suddenly): You know, I had wanted a mountain bike for years, but I never did anything about it. Just wished I had one. It wasn't until you talked to us about setting a definite goal and then taking action towards it that I had the idea of mowing lawns to earn some money to buy one. Before that I thought it would have to be given to me because it seemed out of my price range. And I didn't think my parents would give me one, so I had just sort of given up.

NINA: Good point. The ideas for action come after you've set your intention. And you've got to follow them! I heard a great story about this once.

“There was a really heavy rain happening in this town, and everyone knew the river was going to burst its banks and flood, so all the people in the town were being evacuated, but this one particular guy refused to get on the bus and be taken to safety. "God will rescue me," he says, and waves the bus good-bye.

"Well, the rain kept pouring down and the river burst its banks. The water starts flooding into the ground level of his house, so the man has to go upstairs. Along comes a boat to collect the last people in the town, but this one man says, "No, God will rescue me." And he tells the boat to go and leave him there.

"So the boat goes and the rains continue and the flood waters are rising higher and higher, and this man has to go up to sit on the roof of his house to be safe. And along comes a helicopter. An emergency guy leans out of it and throws down a ladder and yells, "Here, climb aboard to safety!" But the man refuses. He reckons God is going to save him.

"Anyway, finally the flood waters wash his whole house away and he drowns. And when he gets up to heaven he goes to see God and says, "Hey! I had so much faith that you were going to save me and you never came."

""What do you mean?" God says. "I sent a bus, a boat and a helicopter - you refused to be saved!""

SANDY: What a dork.

NATALIE: That is a great story. So you're saying that if you get an idea to do something that might help with your goal, do it!

NINA: Yep. Follow your leads. We're living in a physical world, so that's where we have to take action. You start the process with your mind, and you follow up with your body.

BILLY: I am having this thought about going swimming - any body want to come?

SANDY (leaping up): This body is raring to go!

While they head off, do you want a little preview of the final Step in the UCAN! Plan, the ‘Now – Let Go Step’?

Gratitude.

If you can be grateful for the thing even before you've received it, that gratitude will work miracles for you. Act as if you've already got the thing you want, and it's yours. There's a line in the Bible to that effect, but I’ll let Nina tell you about it…

Remember to look out for your next email to fully explore the ‘N’ Step in the UCAN! Plan.